Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I agree that we need to shift spending from roads to public transport and from office construction to housing construction. There are tactical things we can do with budget items. In its document, IFAC mentioned the possibility of what it called a "prudence account" being created from excess corporate tax revenues. I have some questions to help me understand this concept properly. Where are we on the projected use of the rainy day fund next year? How would such a prudence account relate to the rainy day fund, and if we do have a downturn, when do we crack into any rainy day fund? What would justify such expenditure? The rainy day fund has only been in existence for a year, but it was designed to increase expenditure in a downturn. When would that intervention be triggered? What are IFAC's recommendations regarding what should be done on that issue next year? How much should be put into a prudence fund and would that be on top of a rainy day fund?